I have been thinking a lot about what my argument for Blackboard as a discourse community will be. I decided to weigh out the pros and cons and then see where that leads me.
Pros:
I can do school anywhere.
School work is done on my time schedule.
I don't have to get up early for it ha.
I still get to be a wife ha.
I can be more of myself since no one is actually meeting me face to face.
I don't stress out as much as when I did when I was actually going to class and, Iam not as tired.
Cons:
I miss out on lectures that I feel are important.
Some teachers don't seem to take online classes seriously and don't respond to emails (Not you Jen).
Communication is delayed between peers and the teacher (waiting on emails or disscusions).
I feel I can talk about both the pros and cons and make my arguement.
Thesis:
Blackboard is a wonderful tool for students on the go but, patience is needed to successfully complete a class with it.
I think this is a good argument, you will be able to frame by this argument. I like how you listed the pros and cons out but I would put a limit on how many you are going to talk about. Pick two Pros and a con and work your paper out with describing the how they help the class.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Heather, Marissa. I think this is a wonderful start! I love how you are looking at both sides of the argument. Things in life are rarely one way or the other and your willingness to look at the gray areas will strengthen your writing and your essay.
ReplyDeleteAs you investigate the pros and cons, make sure to consider how the space itself encourages these things. How does Blackboard encourage flexibility and access? How does it allow people to ignore it or treat it less seriously than f-2-f classes?
Just be sure to investigate your wonderful hypotheses in light of the space, language, images, and other communication tools embedded within the space and community.
As for research, look for things about online learning - pitfalls and benefits.
Great start!
Jen